Howard Lederer grew up in a family of five where he enjoyed gambling on various card games at a young age. He discovered himself becoming very aggressive in these particular card games while competing against his father. After graduating from Sr. High school, Howard made a decision to put college on hold for a little bit and moved to New York City to participate in some formidable chess. While competing in chess, he was brought in to a poker game going on in the back of the room. Howard’s initial two years were rough as he played extensive hours and lose most times. He made some additional cash by becoming an runner for the poker enthusiasts. He judged he possibly could improve his game by analyzing his life outside of poker. He made an effort to acquire more sleep and focus attention even more on poker.

The definite advancement in his skills happened when he began gambling at the Mayfair Club in New York. The Mayfair was a bridge and backgammon club where the best players would frequently challenge each other. He was able to access some of the greatest minds in chess. With their help, Howard Lederer would tweak his cunning thinking abilities. He applied these strategic concepts to the game of NL holdem.

He also assisted his sibling Annie Duke master poker. Annie was a superb student of the game as she would always be asking questions about the right way to make the correct decision. He told Annie Duke to move out to Vegas and play in the World Series of Poker tournaments. Annie is one of the strongest female players the poker world ever. Howard Lederer headed to Vegas in 1993 and participated in money games for the following 10 years. When the WPT gained popularity, Howard decided to play more tournaments.